The conveyancer's one-page guide

Why this check exists

Victorian law requires an owners corporation certificate to disclose the owners corporation's liabilities and contingent liabilities (costs that might become debts if something happens), repairs or other work about to be done that may add charges, and any circumstances it is aware of that are likely to lead to proceedings. The certificate is prepared by the manager or the committee from what they judged relevant and chose to record. A buyer has no way to check whether everything the owners corporation knew made it onto the page. The register is where the other party to a dispute puts their sworn account on the public record, so a buyer can see whether the two tell the same story.

Buyers have inherited special levies for problems that were argued over long before they bought. A dated search of the register, on the file, shows you looked.

• Is this owners corporation in a dispute, or doing something that could draw it into one?
• Are there repairs, defects or maintenance problems in the building that have been discussed or argued over, even informally, that do not appear in the certificate?
• If a problem surfaced the week after you signed, would you have had any way to find out about it beforehand?

What the register is

A public register where a party to a dispute with or about an owners corporation records a short, factual notice, sworn and backed by one document. A person checks every notice before it shows. The owners corporation is told first, has fourteen days to reply free of charge, and its reply is published beside the notice. Every status carries an "as at" date.

What it is not

Not a finding by anyone. Not a record kept by anyone else. Not a copy of tribunal lists, court files or any other register. It holds only what a party lodged with it directly, and it does not rate, rank or comment on buildings.

How to run the check

• Search the building by address. The result page carries the date of the search; keep it with the file.
• For each notice, note the kind of dispute, the date lodged, the status as at its date, and whether a reply has been received. Read the reply.
• An empty result means nobody has lodged a notice. It does not mean there are no disputes, and it does not replace the owners corporation certificate or the inspection of records.
• Ask to be emailed if a notice is lodged, replied to or resolved before settlement: watch the building, free.

What to tell a client

"This is a register of notices sworn by one party to a dispute. The owners corporation can reply and its reply is shown with the notice. A notice is not a finding, and an empty result does not mean there are no disputes. The certificate and the records inspection remain the main checks; this is one more."

Contact

register@pndr.au. During the Victorian launch period, lodging a notice is free. Searching is free. Replying is free. Removing or correcting your own notice is free. Any change to lodging fees will be announced on this page in advance.